DTheses (Athabasca University)
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TRANSITION SHOCK AND SELF-EFFICACY AMONGST NEW GRADUATE NURSES POST-PANDEMIC
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges for newly graduated nurses entering professional practice. Transition shock theory supports the hardships, confusion, and doubt felt by this population during their initial entry to practice. Self-efficacy is believing in one's abilities to succeed despite overcoming challenges. Understanding the consequences of the pandemic on the transition shock of new graduates and examining the influence of self-efficacy is lacking. The research questions guiding this study were: 1) How do NGNs working in an acute care setting post-pandemic make sense of and perceive their transition shock experience? and 2) What does self-efficacy during this transition shock period mean to NGNs? Interpretive Phenomenology Analysis methodology guided this study. Four themes emerged: self-doubt, emotional whirlwind, silver lining, and pandemic effects. As the nursing shortage worsens, and new graduate nurses' attrition rates increase, further understanding how to support new graduates entering the workforce is needed to increase retention.2024-0
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT: EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF WORKPLACE COACHING – A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY
Full text linkThe purpose of this interpretivist grounded theory study was to understand how Canadian middle managers are coaching in today’s disrupted organizational environments. The traditional genre of inductive grounded theory guided this research. The author conducted twenty semi-structured interviews with Canadian middle managers who conduct workplace coaching in cross-industry service organizations of varying sizes. Utilizing constant comparison data analysis central to grounded theory methodology, ten dominant study themes are outlined of which three are central to the resulting grounded theory implying a need to reposition the focus of workplace coaching. This requires a mindset shift and addition of mental health and wellness emphasis to the conventional performance, development, and growth focus in business coaching. The purpose of doing so is to influence middle management coaching practice to better achieve positive organizational outcomes and wellbeing within constant disruption.
Several important findings of how middle managers coach in constant disruption emerged from this study. Given constant disruption middle managers are engaged in increasing levels of complex emotional work. They do not feel well prepared skill wise to coach in disruption. Findings suggest conventional leadership and coaching theories are not aligned with addressing emotional work and constant disruption. Coaching tools and frameworks are not adequate to address organizational wellness nor integrated with mental health tools and resources. Lastly, participants expressed a need for boundary delineation between workplace coaching, workplace counseling, and clinical counseling in determining where their competence ends and the need for referral begins.
This study contributes to extending leadership and workplace coaching bodies of knowledge by providing a grounded theory implying the need to reposition the focus of workplace coaching. Using lived experiences and presenting practical evidence of the challenges in addressing workplace emotions and stress offers an updated view of middle manager coaching practice within modern organizations. Findings contribute to advancing middle management coach training and development through the recommendation to integrate non-psychological counseling skills into workplace coaching to address boundary delineation between workplace coaching, workplace counseling, and clinical counseling. The purpose of doing so in a business coaching context is critical in framing transparency, expectation, and safeguarding professional conduct.202
WHEN MYTH OVERSHADOWS HISTORICAL ARTEFACTS: A SOCIAL SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS USING CROWN PHOTOGRAPHY
Full text linkThe go-to images representing the history of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools (IRS) are of identifiable Indigenous children—often digitized Crown photography now used to teach difficult history. The choice of digital image in online education may perpetuate the exploitation of children and distract from historical context that facilitates critical inquiry among learners. This social semiotic research analyzed a Crown photograph for paradigmatic relationships with similar themed images to answer the question of missing context and its effect on truth value around a society’s ideologies. Second order semiotics informed by Barthes’ Signification process ending in myth reveals false beliefs associated with images of children and the IRS: enforced institutionalization, child advocacy, presentation of a comprehensive history, and cultural genocide. Notably, image presentation is habitually contrary to social norms related to the protection of children. Further research into ethical reflexivity of digital image choice in education is warranted.2025-0
THE EXPERIENCE OF VIOLENCE AMONGST NEONATAL NURSES
Full text linkViolence in healthcare is a global concern for all health care professionals with nurses being recognized as most likely to be a target. Much of the research conducted on the experience of violence in nursing pertains to nurses working in emergency or psychiatric departments and long-term care. There is a paucity of research exploring the experience of violence among nurses in other care areas. This study intended to explore the experience of violence amongst neonatal nurses. A qualitative description methodology was used to begin to understand the complexities of violence toward neonatal nurses. Participants articulated experiencing both HV and VV and provided valuable insight into the personal impacts of such violence. Findings from this study provide important qualitative information that could be used to understand, mitigate, and address violence in the NICU. Further studies exploring the experiences of neonatal nurses would be beneficial to gain further understanding of the prevalence of violence, the influence of unit design, and the role of managers and healthcare leaders in violence prevention and response.2024-0
A SCOPING REVIEW OF INCLUSIVE ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION: LEVERAGING UDL PRACTICES
Full text linkThe universal design for learning (UDL) framework was established in 1998 with two associated parts to the framework. The universal design of instruction (UDI) and universal instructional design (UID) learning design practices are related to the UDL framework, yet do not always emerge in research as connected learning practices due to limited search terms connecting them in previous literature reviews. Adding targeted search terms in a scoping review formed a broader picture of UDL, UDI, and UID practices from peer-reviewed and grey literature.
UDL was originally designed to reduce barriers to learning for students with disabilities in learning environments, yet recent investigation has demonstrated that UDL has become associated with the atypical variability that exists across individuals. This dissertation explores how UDL has been researched and implemented since the framework was developed.
A systematic scoping review was conducted. Inclusion criteria involved: (a) peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed artifacts; (b) grey literature, including non-peer reviewed professional or government websites, policy papers, government, and professional publications written by researchers and educators; and (c) artifacts that cite UDL, UDI, and UID practices in an inclusive OHE environment with publication dates from 2000 to 2020. A three-stage process was involved using Zotero software to (a) aggregate a collection of artifacts as described above and establish reliability; (b) distil collection for duplication, review abstracts and executive summaries for inclusion, and sort by research question parameters; and (c) review remaining artifact data in detail and arrange in themes. Recommendations include faculty/institution responsibility for implementation; increased attention to accessibility of course content and instructional design practices, co-creation of knowledge; and involvement of academic librarians as part of a comprehensive strategic plan. This dissertation may contribute to a more in-depth analysis of how UDL/UDI/UID is examined in relation to creating inclusive OHE learning environments for students with disabilities, students from marginalized populations, and all learners. Implementing these recommendations would help realize the benefits of a flexible, inclusive OHE that these practices promise.20240
SUPPORTING MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH: THE EXPERIENCES OF REGISTERED NURSE LACTATION CONSULTANTS
Full text linkRates of perinatal mental health disorders (PMHDs) in Nova Scotia are among the highest in the country, while rates of exclusive breastfeeding remain low. Difficulty breastfeeding is a risk factor for PMHDs; however, lactation consultant support has been associated with decreased rates of PMHDs. The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of Registered Nurse Lactation Consultants (RN LCs) in Nova Scotia related to maternal mental health. Ten RN LCs employed within the publicly funded healthcare system in Nova Scotia, Canada, participated in this study via semi-structured online interviews. Guided by qualitative description, a qualitative content analysis revealed five key themes: Availability of breastfeeding support, Experiences supporting maternal mental health, Providing maternal mental health care, Access to services, and Mothers need support. Findings highlight the importance of LCs in supporting maternal mental health outcomes and the need for more equitable access to LC services.2024-0
INSTRUCTIONAL CONVERSATIONS IN SYNCHRONOUS ENVIRONMENTS: MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES OF ESOL INSTRUCTORS
Full text linkInspired by the sociocultural theory (SCT) for language learning, this qualitative multiple case study examines the implementation of instructional conversations (ICs) of instructors of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teaching novice adult learners in online synchronous environments. It addresses the lack of research, informed by teachers themselves, on the implementation of ICs with ESOL adult learners in synchronous environments, and how their beliefs and second language acquisition theories (SLA) influence that. The purpose of this study is to explore how SLA manifests in ICs, how they are demonstrated, and how instructors apply ICs in a synchronous online classroom. This study employs a qualitative multiple case study methodology using semi-structured interviews, recordings of synchronous sessions and follow- up interviews to investigate the beliefs and attitudes as well as the synchronous classroom actions of three ESOL instructors regarding SLA, and how ICs may be used to mediate language learning. This qualitative study is grounded in the social and ecological constructivist paradigms to learning and teaching. It builds on existing theories of assistance through language mediation and is guided by SCT of second language learning. The findings show that orchestration of ICs in the synchronous online environment reflects an ecological approach that recognizes the holistic nature of language learning and values the interconnected aspects including pedagogy, task, purposeful use of the affordances of the digital technology and that the way these depend on and influence one another. These findings further support an SLA-informed and teacher-inspired language pedagogy and contribute to refining synchronous online language instruction that mediates language learning and development.2024-0
EXPLORING HOW CANADIAN MILITARY SPOUSES DEFINE AND EXEMPLFY RESILIENCE AND LACK OF RESILIENCE
Full text linkThe military profession, though a noble one, comes with its own set of unique characteristics. The combination of routine relocations, being separated from loved ones, and military members being placed in high-risk environments with the potential of injury or death, is the reality for military spouses and their families. Research focusing on the resilience of military spouses in Canada is gaining momentum, creating an opportunity to learn more about this community’s resilience. Using semi-structured interviews, this netnography collected data from five military spouses in Canada to understand how military spouses define and demonstrate resilience and diminishing resilience amidst the routine challenges associated with the military lifestyle. Social connections and mentorship were identified as some of the most valued protective factors to their resilience. These insights can inform new resiliency frameworks and models tailored to the military context and guide the improvement of existing policies and resources for military spouses.2024-0
AVATAR IDENTIFICATION IN PROBLEMATIC GAMING: AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Full text linkVideo games are becoming ever more sophisticated, immersive and prevalent throughout society, and research into the impact of problematic gaming (PG; or gaming disorder) is nascent. The theory of avatar identification, where a player merges their identity with a game character, provides a promising model to understand the phenomenon of PG in avatar-based games. This study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore how five participants with lived experiences of PG related to their in-game avatars. Analysis of interviews yielded three superordinate themes. In the first theme, participants describe how particular games became safe escapes from real-world stressors. The second theme documents the strong social identity factors that motivated participants to game to extremes. The final theme relates what helped participants manage or quit their gaming. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant literature and how they may influence professional practice and future research directions.June 3, 202
A MATHEMATICAL DEFINITION OF A CODING PROCESS TO CAUSALLY ASSESS CODING COMPETENCE
Full text linkThe search for causal relations from observational or experimental data is an open and pervasive problem that spans many fields of research. In the area of learning, this is especially important. The ability to determine the effect of a new teaching strategy or the cause of an upswing in student performance is persistently desirable. In computer science courses, integrated development environments (IDE) offer students a plethora of features promising to accelerate the coding process and instill the necessary competency skills for seamless migration to industry. In this work, we introduce a mathematical definition of a coding process and apply causal discovery methods to data collected from an IDE. We approached the problem statically and dynamically and found strong evidence of a causal effect of consultations on coding competency. We set forth the groundwork for future analyses of these processes and exhibit the extendibility of this work to other disciplines.2024-0